Martoons

Cast of characters

Mr Go

Mr Kang

Fred

Miss No

*

The Call     

Comrade Go returned to his swivel chair and placed the soju bottle on his desk. He’d kept the cell phone and Comrade No glued to his ear.

The landline kept ringing over at the edge of his desk.

* Will Comrade Go pick it up? *

“I am back where you want me, Comrade No. I’ve got a call coming in on the landline but I am not going to answer it.”

“Good Comrade Go. Don’t touch it.”

That phone was into its ninth … tenth … eleventh rings. Comrade Go fiercely fought off the urge to pick up. He steadied himself and focused his gaze.

Fred had slipped back into the office and sat back down. He remained quiet and simply observed, not wanting to jar Go out of his trance.

Yet at the same time he didn’t want to lose Kang’s incoming call and discretely moved one hand toward the landline. Go didn’t seem to notice.

Tactfully, Fred slowly and steadily picked up the landline, whispering, “Hello? Mr Kang?”

“Yes Mr Fred, listen to me. Mr Go is hypnotized and being psychologically controlled by Miss No. Do not worry and – again – do not snap him out of it.

“Tell me, what is going on right now?”

Fred kept his lilt low. “Mr Go went and got a bottle of soju that he had hidden. Took a big swig – the bottle’s now about half-empty.

“Presently he’s back at his desk with Miss No talking to him on his cell phone. He heard your call coming in but she ordered him not to answer it.”

“Luckily, I was able to.”

“OK – so about that soju… Soju is how we ground the whole mind-washing process. It’s symbolic more than anything; how you say – placebo effect?

“Somehow you have to get that soju away from him. If he drinks more, he will follow Miss No’s orders only and not mine. This is a critical moment. We can’t lose him!”

* Will Fred be able to get the soju away from Go? *

“Okay.” Fred slowly slid his other hand along the desk toward the soju bottle. If Mr Go noticed, he didn’t register any sign of doing so.

* Do you think Go noticed? *

Miss No’s voice again blasted through Go’s cell phone:

“Comrade Go – did your landline stop ringing? I don’t hear it anymore.”

“Fred picked up that phone and answered it Comrade No.”

Fred was surprised – thinking Go hadn’t noticed him but obviously he had in his peripheral vision.

“Ayeesh!” Comrade No exclaimed. “You must deal with Fred – now!”

“Yes Comrade No.”

“You know what to do.”

Go slowly slid open the left desk drawer without looking down, and carefully felt around for the handle of the raw fish knife.

His fingertips traced it out and he positioned his hand around it, and then he clutched it like a vice grip.

* What is Go supposed to do with that knife?… *

Listening intently through the landline, Kang was piecing-together what was going on.

“Fred,” he said, “politely hand the landline back to Mr Go and see if he will take it.

He should be amenable to my orders since he’s already heard my three ring code and it will be sitting fresh in his unconscious – like unlocking a door to his mind.

“Mine is one of only a few voices that he’s programmed to respond to. What I have to do now is coach him to hang up on Miss No.”

Fred held the landline’s receiver out to Go but he was unresponsive – sitting rigidly at the desk, looking straight ahead with his cell glued to his ear.

Fred didn’t notice that Go’s hand had sunk down out of sight and into the drawer.

“He won’t take the landline,” Fred whispered to Kang. “He seems preoccupied.”

“Okay, do not force the issue. We don’t want to set him off as he may become confused and violent as a defensive reaction.

“Still though, we have to interrupt that call with Miss No. If there’s some way you can end it, you can break her connection into his mind.”

“Then I can call him back and try to de-program him.”

“How do you suggest I end her call?”

“I’m sorry Fred. That might be very tricky. Whatever you do – again – avoid angering Mr Go! Don’t pry the phone off him or physically intervene.”

“Don’t even touch him. He has to willingly do everything.”

“What if everything does go sideways and he flies into a rage?”

“Leave the office immediately and hold the door closed. He will likely destroy everything in there like a wild animal.

* Are things going to go sideways?… *

“Fred, you would not believe the power of the mind. The physical strength it can command is truly astounding.”

“We all have the strength of two or three men locked in our minds.”

Kang paused and sighed audibly, clearly exasperated. “At the end of it all, Mr Go won’t remember anything.

He’ll simply see the wreckage and start apologizing profusely. Believe me, I’ve seen it all before and it’s scary and disturbing.

“Anyway, we don’t have much time to get him away from Miss No’s control. I’ll leave you to it. Pali, pali.” He hung up.

*

Tomorrow: Fred has to carefully distract Go…